The credit-rating firms — Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings — have said that they could downgrade U.S. debt if Congress does not find at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings over a decade, or if the economy worsens significantly in coming months.

 

A simple failure by the special congressional committee seeking to forge a deal to tame the debt would not necessarily lead to a downgrade, according to the ratings companies and other economists. The committee’s deadline is Wednesday.